NJ Congressman's anti-child sex tourism bill clears U.S. House

The International MeganâÂÂs Law, H.R. 4573, authored by Rep. Chris Smith, establishes a model framework for international law enforcement notifications when convicted child-sex offenders who pose a danger to children arrive in a destination country. Courtesy of Chris Smith's office

A New Jersey congressman’s law to warn international law enforcement agencies about American sex offenders travelling abroad has advanced through the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The International Megan’s Law, authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th), passed with bipartisan support and awaits action by the U.S. Senate.

“It is imperative that we take the lessons we have learned on how to protect our children from known child sex predators within our borders and expand those protections globally,” Smith, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “Child predators thrive on secrecy, a secrecy that allows them to commit heinous crimes against children with impunity and without any real accountability. Megan’s Law–which its emphasis on notification–must go global, to protect American children and children worldwide.”

The legislation is named for Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old from Hamilton, who was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered in 1994 by a convicted repeat sex offender who lived across the street, unbeknownst to her family

Due to public outcry, the New Jersey State Legislature passed the original Megan’s Law to require public notification of convicted sex offenders living in the community. Today all 50 States and all the territories have a Megan's Law, an important tool in preventing more children from becoming victims.

Richard and Maureen Kanka, of Hamilton, praised the measure’s passage.

“The protection of our most vulnerable is needed and a must to assure we as a people do everything possible to safeguard everybody,” the Kankas said. “The tireless work from Congressman Smith shows his compassion for not only everyone in the United States but worldwide. With the efforts of Congressman Smith and the support of his congressional delegation we can take another step in that direction. We must not only show the world that we will not tolerate these perverted acts in the United States but internationally also.”

Smith first introduced the International Megan’s Law bill alongside the Kankas in 2008, and has worked for passage ever since. The bill passed the House in 2010, but the Senate failed to act on it. A new version of the bill passed today in a unanimous voice vote.

According to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office entitled “Current Situation Results in Thousands of Passports Issued to Registered Sex Offenders” at least 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered sex offenders in fiscal year 2008. The GAO emphasized that its numbers were probably understated due to the limitations of the data that it was able to access and analyze.

“The goals of this legislation do not stop at protecting children overseas from U.S. predators,” Smith said. “Sex offenders around the world are now able to cross borders and oceans easily to carry out their horrible designs against children under the cloak of anonymity and then disappear before a child is able or willing to reveal the crime. The International Megan’s Law would establish the model needed for the U.S. to persuade other countries to take action to stop both child sex tourism within their borders and protect children in the United States and elsewhere. The goal is reciprocal notice between countries. The stories of the victims are tragic—ruined childhoods, devastated families, lifetimes of memories of assaults and sometimes worse.”

The bill, which enjoys bipartisan support, addresses the problem of American convicted sex offenders traveling abroad intent on sexually abusing trafficked children in child sex tourism.

The measure also establishes in law the Angel Watch Center, currently a one-person program in U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement, which notifies destination countries of intended travel by registered sex offenders with a serious sex offense against a child (Tier II or Tier III under the Adam Walsh Act), and would ensure the information currently maintained by the U.S. Marshals Service on child-sex offender travel is made available to the center in a timelier manner so that it is actionable.

Smith said that the new International Megan’s Law will work in conjunction with the anti-human trafficking laws he previously wrote and steered through Congress in 2000, 2003 and 2005.

Estimates from the International Labor Organization indicate that 1.8 million children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation around the world every year.